The present invention relates to a radio communication system that controls a call origination, incoming call processing, or communication of a radio communication terminal, a method of controlling the radio communication system, and a radio communication terminal.
This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 9-292663, filed Oct. 24, 1997, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
In recent years, radio communication systems have progressed rapidly. As the charge for a telephone call has come down, radio communication terminals, including portable telephones and simplified portable telephones known as PHS (personal handy phone), have been popularized remarkably.
The radio communication systems control communication between a communication terminal and a base station, communication between a base station and an exchange for the radio communication system, communication between the exchanges, and communication between the exchange and a database. They enable mobile communication by performing communication between a communication terminal and a base station by radio.
As the built-in CPUs are getting more sophisticated, recent radio communication terminals are made to have more functions and a more compact design to improve the portability.
In this connection, there are now a lot of base stations and radio communication terminals that are compact and easy to carry, which makes it possible to make a call in various places, indoors or outdoors.
On the other hand, speaking by telephone or ringing a calling tone in a public place, such as a theater or a train, may annoy the people there. Radio communication in such a place as a hospital can have an adverse effect on the instruments there. Traditionally, use of radio communication terminals in such public places has been up to users. Specifically, the user himself or herself had to turn off the power supply of the radio communication terminal in a public place and turn on the power supply when leaving the place. However, the user sometimes forgot to turn off the power supply, annoying the people there or having an adverse effect on the instruments nearby. Alternately, forgetting to turn on the power supply, the user suffered inconvenience.
It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages in the prior art and provide a radio communication system that limits the use of radio communication terminals depending on circumstances.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of controlling the above radio communication system.
Further object of the present invention is to provide a radio communication terminal used in the above radio communication system.
The foregoing objects are accomplished by the following radio communication systems, method of controlling the system, and radio communication terminal described in items (1) to (5).
(1) A radio communication system comprising a radio communication terminal, and a base station, wherein the base station transmits a control signal for controlling an operation of the radio communication terminal, and the radio communication terminal comprises communication control means capable of operating in several operation modes, reception means for receiving the control signal from the base station, and operation mode changing means for changing the operation mode of the communication control means based on the control signal received by the reception means.
In the radio communication system, the base station may transmit the control signal to the radio communication terminal crossing a boundary of a use inhibit area where use of the radio communication terminal is inhibited, the communication control means is capable of operating in a call enable mode and a call inhibit mode, and the operation mode changing means changes the operation mode to the call inhibit mode in a case where the operation mode of the communication control means is the call enable mode when the reception means receives the control signal and changes the operation mode to the call enable mode in a case where the operation mode of the communication control means is the call inhibit mode when the reception means receives the control signal. It is desirable that the base station should be provided at a doorway to the use inhibit area.
With such a configuration, it is possible to inhibit making a call reliably to any radio communication terminal that has entered the use inhibit area. Moreover, it is possible to return every radio communication terminal that has left the use inhibit area from the call inhibit state to the call enable state reliably.
This saves the user the trouble of turning off the power supply of the radio communication terminal in a public place and turning on the power supply when leaving the place. Consequently, the user will never fail to turn off the power supply in a public place, which eliminates the possibility of annoying the people there or having an adverse effect on the instruments nearby. Moreover, the user will never experience the inconvenience of being unable to make a call because of forgetting to turn on the power supply.
It is desirable that the radio communication terminal should comprise storage means for storing call incoming history data including information on the call originating party and information on the call originating date, and the call inhibit mode of the communication control means includes a first operation mode in which the radio communication terminal is inhibited from originating a call, neither a call incoming informing process nor the process of establishing a speech channel between the base station and the radio communication terminal is performed at the time of call incoming, and the call incoming history data is stored in the storage means.
With this configuration, because the radio communication terminal can store the call incoming data even when it cannot make a call in the use inhibit area, the stored data enables the user to check information on an incoming call for the user in the use inhibit area.
It is desirable that the call inhibit mode of the communication control means should include a second operation mode in which call originating and incoming call reception are inhibited and only the control signal can be received.
With this configuration, it is possible to completely shut off the radio waves radiated from the radio communication terminal in the use inhibit area.
It is desirable that the radio communication terminal should comprise display means, the operation mode changing means changes the operation mode to the call inhibit mode in a case where the operation mode of the communication control means is the call enable mode when the reception means receives the control signal, and the communication control means displays a message or a mark indicating that the terminal is within the use inhibit area, continuously on the display means or temporarily on the display means by a call originating operation during the time until the reception means receives the control signal again.
With this configuration, because a message or a mark indicating that the terminal is within the use inhibit area is displayed on the display means, this enables the user to easily know that the user has entered the use inhibit area and the operation mode is changed to the call inhibit mode.
It is desirable that the radio communication terminal should comprise informing means, the communication control means causes the informing means to give an alarm notice that the terminal has entered the use inhibit area in a case where the terminal is busy when the reception means receives the control signal, and then performs a call terminating process, and the operation mode changing means changes the operation mode of the communication control means to the call inhibit mode.
Such a configuration enables the user to easily know that the user has entered the use inhibit area and consequently the call is going to be interrupted.
It is desirable that the radio communication terminal should comprise informing means, the operation mode changing means changes the operation mode to the call enable mode in a case where the operation mode of the communication control means is the call inhibit mode when the reception means receives the control signal, and the communication control means reads the call incoming history data from the storage means and causes the informing means to notify the contents of the data when there has been an incoming call in the call inhibit mode.
Such a configuration saves the user the trouble of turning on the power supply of the radio communication terminal again when leaving the use inhibit area. Because the informing means notifies the user of the call incoming history in the use inhibit area when the user is leaving the inhibit area, the user can know information on the incoming call for the user quickly.
(2) A radio communication system comprises a radio communication terminal, a base station, and position detecting means for detecting the position of the radio communication terminal, wherein the position detecting means detects the position of the radio communication terminal, the base station transmits a control signal for controlling an operation of the radio communication terminal, and the radio communication terminal comprises communication control means capable of operating in several operation modes, reception means for receiving the control signal from the base station, and operation mode changing means for changing the operation mode of the communication control means based on the control signal received by the reception means, the base station transmitting a control signal for specifying the operation mode of the communication control means when the position detecting means detects that the radio communication terminal is within the use inhibit area.
With such a configuration, whether the radio communication terminal is in the use inhibit area can be judged and the base station can send a control signal to the radio communication terminal in the area to change the operation mode of the terminal to a specified operation mode. This saves the user the trouble of turning on and off the power supply of the radio communication terminal. In addition, the feature prevents the user from forgetting to turn off the power supply, which eliminates the possibility of annoying the people around the user or having an adverse effect on the instruments nearby. Moreover, the user will never experience the inconvenience of being unable to make a call because of forgetting to turn on the power supply.
(3) A method of controlling a radio communication system comprising a radio communication terminal and a base station, the method comprising the steps of transmitting from the base station to the radio communication terminal a control signal for controlling an operation of the radio communication terminal crossing a boundary of a use inhibit area where use of the radio communication terminal is inhibited, and changing an operation mode of the radio communication terminal to a call inhibit mode in a case where its operation mode is a call enable mode when the radio communication terminal receives the control signal and changing the operation mode to the call enable mode when its operation mode is the call inhibit mode when it receives the control signal.
With such a control method, any radio communication terminal that has entered the use inhibit area can be inhibited reliably from making a call. Furthermore, every radio communication terminal that has left the use inhibit area can be returned reliably from the call inhibit state to the call enable state.
This saves the user the trouble of turning off the power supply of the radio communication terminal in a public place and turning on the power supply when leaving the place. Consequently, the user will never fail to turn off the power supply in a public place, which eliminates the possibility of annoying the people there or having an adverse effect on the instruments nearby. Moreover, the user will never experience the inconvenience of being unable to make a call because of forgetting to turn on the power supply.
(4) A radio communication terminal comprising communication control means capable of operating in several operation modes, reception means for receiving a control signal from a base station, and operation mode changing means for changing an operation mode of the communication control means based on the control signal received by the reception means.
With the radio communication terminal, the operation mode can be changed by only receiving the control signal from the base station. This saves the user the trouble of changing the operation mode of the radio communication terminal.
It is desirable that the communication control means should be capable of operating in a call enable mode in which call originating and incoming call reception are allowed and a call inhibit mode in which call originating is inhibited, and the operation mode changing means changes the operation mode to the call inhibit mode in a case where the operation mode of the communication control means is the call enable mode when the reception means receives the control signal and changes the operation mode to the call enable mode in a case where the operation mode of the communication control means is the call inhibit mode when the reception means receives the control signal.
With such a configuration, any radio communication terminal that has entered the use inhibit area can be inhibited reliably from making a call. Furthermore, every radio communication terminal that has left the use inhibit area can be returned reliably from the call inhibit state to the call enable state.
This saves the user the trouble of turning off the power supply of the radio communication terminal in a public place and turning on the power supply when leaving the place. Consequently, the user will never fail to turn off the power supply in a public place, which eliminates the possibility of annoying the people there or having an adverse effect on the instruments nearby. Moreover, the user will never experience the inconvenience of being unable to make a call because of forgetting to turn on the power supply.
It is desirable that the radio communication terminal should further include storage means for storing call incoming history data including information on a call originating party and information on a call originating date, wherein the call inhibit mode of the communication control means includes a first operation mode in which the radio communication terminal is inhibited from originating a call, neither a call incoming informing process nor the process of establishing a speech channel between the base station and the radio communication terminal is performed at the time of call incoming, and the call incoming history data is stored in the storage means.
Furthermore, it is desirable that the call inhibit mode of the communication control means should include a second operation mode in which call originating and incoming call reception are inhibited and only the control signal can be received.
With such a configuration, even when the terminal is unable to make a call in the call inhibit area, if the operation mode is the first operation mode, the radio communication terminal will be able to store the call incoming data, enabling the user to check information on the incoming call for the user. If the operation mode is the second operation mode, the radio waves radiated from the radio communication terminal can be shut off completely in the use inhibit area.
It is desirable that the radio communication terminal should further comprise display means, and in which the operation mode changing means changes the operation mode to the call inhibit mode in a case where the operation mode of the communication control means is the call enable mode when the reception means receives the control signal, and the communication control means displays a message or a mark indicating that the terminal is within the use inhibit area, continuously on the display means or temporarily on the display means by a call originating operation during the time until the reception means receives the control signal again.
With this configuration, because a message or a mark indicating that the terminal is within the use inhibit area is displayed on the display means, this enables the user to easily know that the user has entered the use inhibit area and communication control is in progress.
It is desirable that the radio communication terminal should further comprise informing means, and in which the communication control means causes the informing means to give an alarm notice that the terminal has entered the use inhibit area in a case where the terminal is busy when the reception means receives the control signal, and the operation mode changing means changes the operation mode of the communication control means to the call inhibit mode.
Furthermore, the communication control means may perform a call terminating process after causing the informing means to give the alarm notice.
Such a configuration enables the user to easily know that the user has entered the use inhibit area and consequently the call is going to be interrupted.
It is desirable that the radio communication terminal should further comprise informing means, and in which the operation mode changing means changes the operation mode to the call enable mode in a case where the operation mode of the communication control means is the call inhibit mode when the reception means receives the control signal, and the communication control means reads the call incoming history data from the storage means and causes the informing means to notify the contents of the data when there has been an incoming call in the call inhibit mode.
Such a configuration saves the user the trouble of turning on the power supply of the radio communication terminal again when leaving the use inhibit area. Because the informing means notifies the user of the call incoming history in the use inhibit area when the user is leaving the inhibit area, the user can know information on the incoming call for the user quickly.
Furthermore, it is desirable that the radio communication terminal should further comprise recording/reproducing means, and in which the call inhibit mode of the communication control means includes a third operation mode in which call originating is inhibited, neither a call incoming informing process nor a process of establishing a speech channel between the base station and the radio communication terminal is performed at the time of incoming a call, the call incoming history data is stored in the storage means, and the recording/reproducing means records a speech message.
Such a configuration enables the user not only to see the call incoming history in the use inhibit area but also to listen to a speech message when leaving the area.
(5) A radio communication system comprising a radio communication terminal and a base station, wherein the base station comprises means for detecting a position of the radio communication terminal, means for determining whether the radio communication terminal is in a use inhibit area, and means for recording call incoming history data indicating information on a call originating party and date and time of a call origination instead of calling the radio communication terminal when there has been an incoming call to the radio communication terminal which is determined to be within the use inhibit area.
Such a configuration prevents the radio waves from radiating in the use inhibit area and therefore from having an adverse effect on the instruments nearby and enables the call incoming history to be recorded.
Additional objects and advantages of the present invention will be the forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the present invention.
The objects and advantages of the present invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.